Marianne, unlike the other women in this play, is not based singularly on any one woman in history. According to playwright Lauren Gunderson, “she is a composite of a few historical sources and a lot of imagination. We don’t have many records of black women in the San Domingue rebellion. So I made them up.”

 

The name “Marianne” is a compound of “Marie,” which means rebellion (and is funnily enough the name of our remaining women at some point in their lives, birth or given), and “Anne,” translating to favor or grace.

 

The name “Marianne” was later used by patriots of the French Revolution as a way to recognize the feminine symbol that had emerged as the representation of liberty and the Republic overall, most famously portrayed in Eugène Delacroix’s painting, La Liberté guidant le people, or Liberty Leading the People.

 

This idea of “Marianne” became the national personification of liberty, equality, fraternity, and reason to the French, and statues of her can be found throughout France.

 

Marianne Angelle, in this play, has deep ties to The Haitian Revolution. While she represents liberty, equality, fraternity, and reason, she also is the representation of the many women who took part in The Haitian Revolution whose stories were not considered important enough to be written about. Many of their accomplishments have been lost to history. Marianne represents the women that did big things, who we know far too little about.